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It's in the bag (ways to keep bags closed)


Fat Guy

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Many grocery items come in bags, sometimes within boxes: cereal, crackers, chips, pretzels, etc. After opening, the challenge of keeping the bag sealed for freshness arises. I've seen a few different methods of addressing the problem:

1. Bag clips. These are often for sale on the checkout line, and work quite well. They are, however, ridiculously un-economical given the alternatives.

2. Binder clips. These (usually black) metal clips are what we use around the house, primarily because I have about a million of them left over from when I practiced law.

3. Clothespins. I'm not sure anybody still uses these for hanging clothes out to dry (placing them in the same category as pipe cleaners), but they sure are handy for keeping bags shut, and you can get a lifetime supply at the dollar store for, well, for a dollar.

4. Origami. Some people -- not me -- seem to have the preternatural ability to roll and fold bags such that they stay shut tight without any artificial support. Amazing.

5. Transfer. This isn't really a way to keep bags shut but is, rather, a way to avoid the issue altogether. I know a few people who just transfer everything they buy into Tupperware, RubberMaid, Zip-Loc, Glad, etc., containers.

6. Just not caring. Some people just kind of scrunch the bag semi-shut and hope for the best.

7. Buying products that come in self-sealing bags. In this day and age, every product should really come in some sort of resealable bag, but for now only a minority of products do -- and often the sealing mechanisms are about as effective as a damp Band-Aid.

Any other methods you all employ or have seen?

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

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FG - I employ many methods (like what you have stated)...

1. Bag clips. - These I don't have and frankly have not seen.

2. Binder clips. - Aaaah, these are my major preference, it keeps the bag nicely shut.

3. Clothespins. -- Most of mine are in my laundry room but I do have one that is decorative (part of a card that was stuck to a gift). That single one I use alongside my binder clips.

4. Origami. - Oooh, I'd love to be able to kow how to do this. So far, my origami skills are limited to the crane and the keepsake box.

5. Transfer. - I rarely do this because when I transfer, the snack/food item gets forgotten for months at the back of the cupboard.

6. Just not caring. - this was hubby when I first met him. He's properly trained now and would use anything from clips to sticky tapes and even my hair clips. :rolleyes:

7. Buying products that come in self-sealing bags. - most Korean products that come with self-sealing bags or those zipperlike seals are really great. It's really easy to zip them up good.

One more thing I also employ to seal is the use of sticky tape. I have one on a dispenser and it is just so easy to fold up a bag, take a strip of sticky tape and toss it back in the cupboard.

Doddie aka Domestic Goddess

"Nobody loves pork more than a Filipino"

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I use a lot of bindery clips. Mostly because stuff in bags, closed with the jumbo bindery clips, can be hung on hooks, which gets stuff like potato chips, popcorn, nuts and etc., off a shelf (or the top of the fridge) and hung where the contents will not get smashed from having something heavy placed on top of it.

The jumbo bindery clips can hold a lot of weight, especially when items such as dried fruits are placed in a Zip-Loc bag with the jaws of the clip placed below the zip ridge.

I stopped using the cheap "bag clips" several years ago when the plastic handles kept breaking.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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I am a huge fan of clothespins. I think most of mine trickled down to me from my mother (who hung clothes to dry in the 80s to save money) and my grandmother (who hung clothes to dry until we forced her to buy a dryer).

I had a few bag clips that came as freebies or gifts and the plastic did eventually break on all of them. I would use binder clips, but I only have one or two since I never stole office supplies. :raz:

I have had pretty good luck in that the items I buy that are self-sealing usually stay sealed.

My husband has finally stopped (after 12 years of marriage) simply rolling the tops down on bags and (I guess) saying a prayer to the freshness gods. He never even attempted origami.

Preach not to others what they should eat, but eat as becomes you and be silent. Epicetus

Amanda Newton

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I buy thin plastic food one gallon food storage bags (around $2.50 for 150) and after rolling the snack bag down, place it into the storage bag and then squeeze more air out, twist it around and use the paper covered wire twisty that comes with the bags. That way the hoover-like teenagers can see what is in the bag, and usually will re-close it (I perform a pantry check daily). Plus they are re-useable cuz the food usually stays in the original bag. If I transfer to a gallon zip-loc for instance, they never close them up properly and they cost more. If it is too big I may divide between 2 bags, but if they can't see the label they sometimes will ignore it not knowing what it is. I also save the cheap plastic container with screw top lids that alot of the Asian candies come in as they provide an easily resealable container that has good visibility. The giant tub-o-sunflower seeds is a current fave although I usually have to hunt down the lid since the open container around with them.

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I save the little gold clips (like alligator clips) that come on bags of locally roasted Lion brand coffee. They work well for just about everything except those humongous chip bags from Costco -- I may have to break down and buy a bag clip.

Cereal, BTW, immediately gets transferred to plastic canisters to keep the bugs out.

SuzySushi

"She sells shiso by the seashore."

My eGullet Foodblog: A Tropical Christmas in the Suburbs

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As a passionate (but mediocre folder -- no Robert Lang here) I can think of many designs for whole bags with intricate closures, but nothing that's origami for fastening the tops of bags. Hmmmm.... there's that Didier Boursin crane letterfold that could be adapted. This could be fun. If I find the time and inspiration, I'll take pix and post them here.

I can never find the few bag clips in the junk drawer when I need them, so I'm mostly a roll-it-up-and-pray person. No one's died yet, though there are crumbs everywhere.

Margaret McArthur

"Take it easy, but take it."

Studs Terkel

1912-2008

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margaretmcarthur.com

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We are strickly a clothespin household, but only wooden pins. Those plastic ones are useless for anything.

I don't like the 'chip clips' because they don't seem to clamp tight enough, and stuff gets stale. Here is the humid south, stuff goes stale very quickly.

Stop Family Violence

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2. Binder clips. These (usually black) metal clips are what we use around the house, primarily because I have about a million of them left over from when I practiced law.

We also use binder clips. We started with the black ones, but found the ones we had would rust in high humidy environments like the fridge/freezer. We found a bunch of stainless steel ones at some office supply store that are holding up much better.

Edited by daves (log)
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oh good, i'm not the only one using binder clips :smile: i started using them because i'm cheap (aka didn't want to buy those bag clips), and although i have a decent idea of the "origami" you speak of, it's easier to use binder clips when other people are involved in eating from the bags you buy (which often is the case when you purchase/share food with another and also are willing to share with friends in a dorm)

if i'm not crazy, the origami thing is folding one top corner down to the opposite side, then doing the same with the other so the top now comes to a point. then, you fold the point down to below the point where the sides cross and form a pockety thing, and then fold the point under at this point and tuck it into that gap...

like this!

gallery_55197_4949_17827.png

..though i've found it works better with paper bags because they retain their creases better, but of course that would kind of be besides the point of avoiding staleness and such.

Edited by feedmec00kies (log)

"I know it's the bugs, that's what cheese is. Gone off milk with bugs and mould - that's why it tastes so good. Cows and bugs together have a good deal going down."

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For me, it depends on the bag. If it's a bag I am likely to finish in no more than 3-4 openings of the bag, and if it's something like chips or crackers that's likely to go stale fairly quickly even with a folded and clipped bag, I just re-seal the bag using my FoodSaver.

--

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Ah Hah, " Clips " !! ??

Many, but best are the ones 'self-created'

Many girl's and women's clothes are sold with these plastic 'clip-on' hangers.

These clips, attacked with a small saw and separated from the rest of the plastic are more then perfect as bag closures.

My wife cleaned the closet a couple of years ago, throwing all the hangers out.

I salvaged the clips, have at least a dozen, they get constant use, and are easier to handle then these black, or other, large office clips.

Peter
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I use a variety of strategies...I have a few of those bag clips mentioned that I inherited from a roommate, but I also use elastic bands, wire twist ties, the clips that come on milk bags, tying the bag shut (if it's flexible enough to do so), and sometimes I'll re-bag things if I'm significantly concerned about keeping something fresh.

Kate

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Haha, yep. Americans (and others) always seem amazed when that comes up, but it seems perfectly normal to me :raz:

Plus, the used bags (washed out) make handy dandy pastry bags. Ok I admit it, I haven't been organized to do that basically ever. But the possibility is there!

Kate

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Ah Hah, " Clips " !! ??

Many, but best are the ones 'self-created'

Many girl's and women's clothes are sold with these plastic 'clip-on' hangers.

These clips, attacked with a small saw and separated from the rest of the plastic are more then perfect as bag closures.

My wife cleaned the closet a couple of years ago, throwing all the hangers out.

I salvaged the clips, have at least a dozen, they get constant use, and are easier to handle then these black, or other, large office clips.

I am amazed at the creativity that this topic has brought out! :smile:

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

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"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

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Oh no. Egullets reveals another sad addiction.

I collect bag clips.

In fish (and other sea creature) shapes. My prize clip is a red octopus clip.

I also have squid, crab, and fish.

I also use the binder clips, as they're more readily available. I like the range of sizes they come in.

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